My First Close-Up Encounter

Posted in Around the Garden on August 15 2012, by Patricia Gonzalez

Patricia Gonzalez is an NYBG volunteer and avid wildlife photographer. She can often be found taking photographs around the Garden.

It was a little after noon on February 26 of 2009 that I enjoyed one of the most amazing experiences of my life. By that time, I had already been shooting photographs at The New York Botanical Garden for a year, and it seemed like every creature living in the Garden had cooperated with my camera except for one species: the Red-tailed Hawks which often hunt throughout the NYBG. I had been able to get a few shots, but always from a distance and far overhead.

Other times, I couldn’t ready my camera fast enough and my subject matter would disappear into the sky.

On that particular day in February, my luck changed. I was walking along the path bordering the white pines (today, that area is also home to the Earth-Kind® rose trial beds) when suddenly something fell from the trees and landed in the grass. I was shocked to see a beautiful Red-tailed Hawk holding on to what I thought was a snake. So I readied my camera and began shooting; I didn’t want to scare the bird away, but at the same time, I really wanted to get some close-ups. Every time my subject would look down at the snake, I would move a few steps closer and duck behind a tree. Eventually, I got close enough to see that it wasn’t a snake in the bird’s talons, but a branch.

While holding onto the branch, the raptor flapped its wings, just in time for me to catch it in a magnificent pose.

The hawk then flew into a nearby tree, only to jump down and pounce on the branch again. After a few minutes, it took off, landing in another tree further up the slope. I followed along until I was close enough to get the photos I wanted, standing just below eye level with the hawk as it groomed itself. Within 20 minutes I had taken nearly 150 photos. The hawk looked right at me at one point, showing off its striking, yellow eyes.

A few more minutes of grooming, and then it was off.

By the time the hawk flew away, I felt like I had made a real connection with nature, the likes of which I hadn’t experienced before. I was so overwhelmed with the thought of seeing how my photographs came out that I immediately stopped snapping, ran for the Mosholu gate, and jumped on the BX-26 bus. All 300 images were uploaded as soon as I got home, and I must say I was pleased; I couldn’t believe how beautiful the bird was.

Each time I head into the Forest in search of these raptors, I find myself experiencing that same sense of deep connection with the natural world. It’s a sensory awakening. On that day I imagined what the Garden grounds must have been like in the time when this land was kept by the Lorillards. It wasn’t until April of 2009 that I would learn of Rose and Hawkeye, the mated pair of hawks that was building a nest at the NYBG’s Library Building; that year, they added three new members to their growing family. In the three years that have passed since, I’ve taken hundreds of photographs of my Red-tailed friends flying, hunting, playing, and bathing. Honestly, it never gets old.

More than just a chance to enjoy New York’s most beautiful flora, the Garden is one of the city’s most beloved places to connect with all sorts of native wildlife. So if you’d like an opportunity of your own to see wild hawks and other animals in their natural environment–all year round–why not become a Garden Member? A membership gives you access to The New York Botanical Garden for an entire year, and offers plenty of benefits beyond open access to the grounds. For more information, visit our sign-up page.

All photos courtesy of Patricia Gonzalez.